Atlanta is cool but where are the jobs? (2013, unemployed)
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I am an African American and I've received an Associates Degree so far and working on my Bachelors. My field of study is Information Technology. I've applied for IT jobs and others.
If you have a 3.0 GPA and you are still working on your bachelors, I may can give you a place where you can apply for good paying internships in the field of IT that could possible land you a full time job after your graduate. When I was in college, I was in the internship program and was offered a position after I finished. PM me.
If you want to get into IT, find some User Group that interests you. eventually you can make contacts. I think that is key, you work your contacts to land a job, any job, especially with what is going on now. What type of IT work do you like? - programming, networking, hardware, or operating systems?
Outside of management track or government or something similar, I don't think you need a bachelor's for most IT work, it helps, but it is not essential. It is more often about skill set and experience. The HR drones can require higher degrees for many jobs to filter out applicants since they can be extremely picky at this time. You probably need to be more aggressive in your job search as you are competing with some good quality applicants out there who cannot find work at all.
Yea, it is easy for some "anonymous" people here to post glib criticism which may not be very helpful IMHO.
Yea a lot of the IT jobs require a lot of experience and I don't have that. I really need to score a internship to help me out. It'll all work out, I'm just in the transitional stages from one career to the next. Thanks for the advice and the link!
Quote:
Originally Posted by md911
If you have a 3.0 GPA and you are still working on your bachelors, I may can give you a place where you can apply for good paying internships in the field of IT that could possible land you a full time job after your graduate. When I was in college, I was in the internship program and was offered a position after I finished. PM me.
First off what makes you think I'm not doing what you mentioned. There is a lack of jobs in this economy from the hit that we took. The market does suck. Now I'm not limited to just IT jobs either. I've looked for others. Now yes, I am being a little picky with what I take for now because I do have a job but I'm just trying to get out of the industry that I'm in. I have tried for internships but haven't received any so far. As I mentioned I'm in school working my Bachelors and going extra hard with resumes. I feel that the only reason why I haven't gotten anything in IT is because my lack of experience which is what they really require. So that's why I'm looking for internships. You have a point on grammar but still this board does not determine my job success or future. Before you past judgement make sure you know my situation and not jump to conclusions.
You are missing the point of my message. Whatever you are doing is obviously not working. Ramp it up even more and try new things because what you have been doing for 3 years hasn't been very successful, right? The market might be tough, but a lot of people are having success, so you have to do something to differentiate yourself and extra work and networking while being creative and persistent are recipes for success. Don't get defensive. Just take the advice and be successful... or keep just keep complaining. Your success is up to you.
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
9,858 posts, read 10,722,536 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SW30303
If you want to get into IT, find some User Group that interests you. eventually you can make contacts. I think that is key, you work your contacts to land a job, any job, especially with what is going on now. What type of IT work do you like? - programming, networking, hardware, or operating systems?
User groups are a good idea, or become active in an open source project. Get your resume out there on all of the major job sites, also ... most of the interviews I had the last time I was looking for work came from people finding my resume, not from my trying to contact companies.
I think there are a few of us who work in IT for a living on the forums. If you were to toss me more details about what you've done and what you're looking for, for example, I can do some looking around.
I am wondering where the jobs are too. I recently received my bs in marketing. I have 2internships and I currently work in financial services. I'm trying to get out of this industry as it's not for me. People are getting jobs here, but I feel like I'm not lucky enough
Just my opinion:
I am in Finance. Been BLESSED with the opportunities I have now. But what brought me to ATL 8 years ago was the same thing that was bringing people here by the thousands; JOBS. The ATL market was great then. That being said, everyone's economy took a plunge back in 2008. Not just ATL, but everywhere. I am based between here and NYC due to business and can tell you that people everywhere are asking the same questions.
The advice I have for you is to look at what niche of Financial Services you are in/what to be in and formulate a strategy to either get there or progress in it. The Finance market in ATL is not as bad as some make it out to be. What area of Financial Services are you in? Inbox me and I will try and get you a few contacts. Other than that, keep your head up and be relentless. This $^&T didnt happen overnight and cant be fixed in a week.
User groups are a good idea, or become active in an open source project. Get your resume out there on all of the major job sites, also ... most of the interviews I had the last time I was looking for work came from people finding my resume, not from my trying to contact companies.
I think there are a few of us who work in IT for a living on the forums. If you were to toss me more details about what you've done and what you're looking for, for example, I can do some looking around.
What makes it so difficult starting out is all the companies are demanding at entry-level at least a year or more of IT work experience which is sort of a Catch-22.
Take this advice. Atlanta is a well educated city. I think we are ranked with Boston study the number of educated people here. That being said, you can't complain unless u have at least a BA. You do.not deserve those job until u are finished school. You are qualified to work at burger king or u can pick onions in south ga. The world does not owe u anything. Finish school first and then complain about jobs. People out here have Masters.degrees that u r competing against. Why should they hire someone with just an Associates degree?
I think your response is a little harsh. I agree that a BS or BA degree is the minimum here, but experience also goes a long way. I landed jobs in corporate America before I finished my BS and that afforded me the opportunity to build a wealth of experience and I now make more than most people I know with an MBA. The workforce here is very educated and competition is stiff, but fortunately the networking is unlimited. I am also a young (26) AA male, and while it is hard to find jobs here, it is not impossible. I don't think that young man was implying that "the world owes him anything," just that many big cities exploit their alleged "goldne opportunities" only for people to find out that opportunties may not be as abundant as advertised. I have seen a few people hired with less than BS degrees that do superb work, so while Education is important, the lack of it does not deem one worthless in the job market.
Well, I'm in financial services, or used to be, and I can tell you Atlanta is horrible for my field. I'm looking to leave asap.
"ATL Guy," What exactly do you do or what are you looking to do? I have some good contacts that may be of assistance to you. I work in Corporate Investments for an Insurance and Asset Management Company.
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